Sentimental Connection to a WDW Resturant

[RobinHoodGirl]

I know a lot of people try to get ADR's because a place has a good reputation or because you can see particular character or the atmosphere the place has. But does anyone else sure to go to a particular restaurant because of a sentimental reason?

I know I always try to get a ADR at Le Cellier not just because I like the place but because this was the first (and only) restaurant I ever took my mom to on Mother's Day, which also happened to be the last Mother's day I got to have with her. Yes, there are better places I could get a steak but there is no place at WDW that reminds me more of that trip and eating there brings me back to that time.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

Well now I try and book Ohana for our first night each trip... If not the first night we still find time too eat there.

We were so excited too be there and we were seated with a view of the castle and got too watch the fireworks from MK and it was just the most magical fun way too kick off our trip...

So we have continued the tradition...Our trip in October will include dinner our first night at Ohana...Brings back good memories from when DD was 3 years old chasing that coconut around the floor..... Now she is 12 years old and not sure she will chase the coconuts, but I am sure she will get in the hula hoop contest....

We just love it there....

 

[sctigger]

California Grill is where DH and I had our wedding night dinner. It's a must stop for us every trip. We've had both great and mediocre meals there. We have also eaten there both on and off the dining plan (wouldn't you know that the night we paid $175.00 to eat there it was one of the mediocre meals). This place will always be special to us even when sometimes the food and service doesn't match that first magical night we ate there.

 

[bluejasmine]

For us it was Ohana the first night since we always do MK first and I adore the Poly we did this for 4 yrs straight then in 2009 I couldnt even get an Ohana but still wanted to go to the Poly so we went to Kona..

Now I really enjoy the Mexico Pavillion and love to eat here but we had such a bad experience in 2008 we havent returned

Le Cellier we have always loved for the mushroom filet but now that 2011 changes it to 2 TS credits we wont be doing that.

I guess its time for a new tradition..

Now we normally check into a DTD resort night before we are due to check into our WDW resort and last yr we went to Trex and we are repeating that this yr so maybe our new sentimental tradition is Trex?
LOL

 

[Donop26]

What a nice thread to start, a nice change from all the "opinion" based threads that can sometimes get a little monotanous!

For my family, I would also have to say Ohana as well, even though this will only be the second year of our "tradition". Last year, my hubby and I scrimped and saved to take our kids to Disney. I had had a rough summer due to medical reasons, and we went in September. We were staying at the Poly (which we have now fallen in love with and are staying again), and our first night watching Wishes from our table was just magical. I remember getting teary - eyed at the table when the Wishes soundtrack started. That chorus of little girls singing gets me every time lol! Of course, I have booked Ohana again for our first night this trip as well. I couldn't imagine eating anywhere else for our first night!

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I LOVE this thread!

Marrakesh- first restaurant I went to with my family on a Disney trip as a young teen. (I don't remember the places I went when I was 3!)

California Grill- my brother took me here as a "special" treat before I started the College Program and I had my wedding here!

Artist Point- I was *almost* engaged here, DF decided to do it at MK later that night.

'Ohana- first Disney meal with my then boyfriend now DH

Main Street Plaza Ice Cream- so many great family memories, it is a tradition for all of us!

 

[darthtatty]

Kona cafe is a bit of a tradition for us, we eat there on our 1st night.
Citricos is our sentimental restaurant as we had our wedding meal there on the 20th May. We usually go on holidy in May so celebrate our anniversary there. We're going in August next year, not sure if we're going to go then.

 

[TheNewMrsB]

What a great question!

For us it's definitely California Grill. We had a fantastic meal there on our honeymoon and had our anniversary dinner there last year. This year? Same thing! I'm not sure what I'll do when we can no longer go there for our anniversary!

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

Our first trip we did not know that we even needed ADRs
The trip was a gift from my parents,and we found ourselves
wandering around the WS at Epcot (I didn't even "read up" on WDW!)
But we were so excited to find the Norway pavilion!
My family is Norwegian and we make lefse & riskrem, etc
and it is my dream to go to Norway...(haven't gone yet)
DD was going to accompany my mom on a cruise to Norway 6 weeks later
And we walked up to Akershus (before the picture w/ Belle days)
and they gave us a reservation 30 minutes later

We had no idea how blessed we were then, but we do now
We ate at 4:30, had a wonderful dinner where I got to taste
some Norwegian foods I had only heard about before. (like gjetost cheese )

DD was 15 & DS was 11 and we all just loved our Akershus experience!
Food was amazing- it was like Christmas for us!

So now we go there at least once each visit...
Have my ADR booked for my 40th birthday there this October
and I hope to get to the real Norway
in 2013 to celebrate DS's college graduation
(he got to go to Norway with my mom too a year later! )
and he really wants to go there with me and DH...

 

[bigdave10000]

For me it is the dinner show now called the "Spirit of Aloha". I watched the show in 1974 when I was 7 years old.

I had never been to WDW as an adult until 1999 when my wife MADE me take our 4 year old son to WDW for the first time.

We went and watched the dinner show because I remembered it as a kid. That was when I caught the Disney "bug". There aren't very many places where you can take your kids and give them the exact same experience you had decades earlier. Been going back to WDW every year since then.

 

[PictureJumpr]

Cosmic Ray's.

My mom's first trip ever was the year after she and my dad got divorced, and she got her first-ever single-mom head-of-household tax refund. So she loaded the two of us kids in the car, picked up my grandmother (her mom), and we went to Disneyworld. Three-day 'passport' parkhoppers (which was okay because there were only two parks back then), stayed at the Motel 6 in Kissimmee. I chose a large-ish stuffed Figment as my souvenir. He still lives in my closet...

Anyhow.

We only ate counter service back then, and only once a day (breakfast and dinner were to be had at or near the hotel, outside the World). If you'd asked me six years ago where we had eaten, I couldn't have told you.

Five years ago, I took my mom back for her first return trip since then. My treat this time. We stayed at the CBR (still her favorite though she has stayed in others since), and after she got over the idea that she didn't need to go wait for her luggage (thanks ME!) we got checked in and headed straight for the MK. By then it was pushing 2pm, and we were starving, so we beelined for Cosmic Ray's, where I had eaten several times in recent years but my mom - as far as I knew - had never been. (I have to go there every trip and yes, I have to listen to Sonny Eclipse's entire schtick before we can leave.) We order lunch, and go find a table, and my mom freezes, staring off into space, Sonny singing for all he is worth in the background.

Big smile, little bit of extra shine in her eyes... 'I remember this. We were here before!' Mom remembered things I had since forgotten, including my now-deceased kid brother's apparent obsession with Sonny (and Tomorrowland in general).

So suffice it to say, we have to head over to Cosmic Ray's at the beginning of every trip.

 

[richard_andmel]

Boma- It's our favorite and part of that is because we almost always stay at the AKL. We have had countless breakfasts and dinners here and always had a good experience and good to excellent servers. It feels like home to us.

Mama Melrose- We had dinner here our first trip together 8 years ago and had the most wonderful server named Kevin. He was so friendly and took loads of time with us. We did enjoy the food obviously, but the service really made the experience. We have been back to WDW at least once a year since then and we make a point of eating at MM on a night Kevin is working and requesting him. We had another server one year when Kevin didn't have a table and he was hilarious and really good as well.

Mel

 

[pilotwife_02]

Well our traditions with our kids are just starting, but we go to Crystal Palace for breakfast our first day there. Just something about starting our trip in MK, seeing the castle...

My kids love meeting the characters and it's something that my DH did as a kid also, so I like carrying on the tradition.

 

[bangzoom6877]

I guess for me it would be Biergarten dinner. Dh and I both love German food, so on our first family trip to WDW with the kids, in 2008, we made an ADR for dinner there. We were in German food heaven and loved it! The food there reminded me of my grandfather...his mom came from Germany and there was only one German restaurant here in NY that he would eat. We went there a lot growing up, and through the years...even took DH there a few times. But a few years ago it closed for good. The food at Biergarten is as good as the food was at the German restaurant my grandfather loved. We went back there in July and it was still amazing! So, I love it for 2 sentimental reasons...1, it reminds me of my grandfather and 2, it was my boys' first German restaurant, on our first WDW family trip. Actually, there is a third reason...my first-ever trip to WDW was when I was 8, and my grandparents were there with us...so WDW also reminds me of them to brgin with!

 

[SuzieN]

My father absolutely loved WDW and we went at least every other year when we were kids. The only place I can remember eating at during those trips was the Crystal Palace...everytime. Back then it was cafeteria style and I have pictures of us eating spaghetti. I think he just made us eat there because he thought it was such a beautiful restaurant. My Dad passed away in 2002 and my husband and I have made it a tradition to eat at Crystal Palace with our kids on each trip to honor his memory(and also we really like the food.

 

[TakeMe2Disney]

We always go to CP at some point in our trip. It was the first meal we took our first DS to and his first character interaction. We made sure when we brought our second DS this was his first character meal. Plus the breakfast buffet is pretty darn good!

 

[Goofy_Girl]

Well I wouldn't call it a restaurant,but the Main st Bakery holds alot of sentiment for me. I remember our first trip walking down Main st and starting our morning in MK there. Just the atmosphere, the sweet smell of baked goods and being excited for the day, we all loved it.Now will be our third trip and I can't wait for MK day eating yummy baked goods and watching all the happy faces stroll by

 

[Teacher510]

For me it's the character breakfast at Ohana.It was the first character breakfast DD (then 5, now 26!) and I went to on our first trip to the World. It was supposed to be one time that trip but she loved it so much we went every morning! We've gone almost every trip and are planning to go again next August!

 

[DLo]

we have to grab b'fast at least once at starring rolls in dhs. my mom loves this place. we try new ts each year and repeat some but no real tradition yet - though i think cp befor mnsshp is going to be one soon! (2nd year in a row)

 

[fla4fun]

My father absolutely loved WDW and we went at least every other year when we were kids. The only place I can remember eating at during those trips was the Crystal Palace...everytime. Back then it was cafeteria style and I have pictures of us eating spaghetti. I think he just made us eat there because he thought it was such a beautiful restaurant. My Dad passed away in 2002 and my husband and I have made it a tradition to eat at Crystal Palace with our kids on each trip to honor his memory(and also we really like the food.

I'm pleased you think CP is a beautiful restaurant. Our family was friends with one of the carpenters hired to build CP, and he really put his heart and soul into that building. The carpenter was the landlord to my parents when they rented their first apartment after they got married, and when he retired, he moved to Florida, and then he came out of retirement to work on CP. So CP always has a special place in our family as well, even though we aren't buffet people.

I don't have a sentimental tie to a particular restaurant. It would have been the Concourse Steakhouse, but it's no longer there. For me, it's more about particular foods. It's the tangy taste of a Dole Whip taking me back to long ago days in Adventureland, or the special treat of a fried ice cream at Epcot. Certain foods or food aromas take me back to wonderful trip memories with friends or family who are no longer with me. Sometimes I'll seek out a particular food because I want to recreate that memory or feeling. Since I've been going to Disney since 1971, I've got a lot of memories tied up there.